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Thus, the recent Supreme Court ruling can legitimately overturn the legislation in Texas, but it cannot legitimately have any effect on any other legislation, however similar, in any other place or at any other time. If someone wants other legislation to be judged, then that other legislation must be brought before the Court. Any other practice constitutes a judicial usurpation of the legislative powers. Let's be very clear about this.
The courts do not have legislative powers. Now, consider this.
Case law is the term which is most commonly used. Again, only the legislative branch can make legislation. Case law and judicial precedent are inherently unconstitutional. John Bouvier had it right. The decision of a court cannot have jurisdiction beyond the matter immediately before the court. If you were not a party to such a matter, then the decision of the court doesn't have any authority over you at all. The only virtue that I can attribute to the U.S. government is consistency. That is, it is universally illegitimate. There isn't, anywhere within the U.S. government, an institution or function that has constitutional validity. The courts are only one of many examples. If the entire government is unconstitutional, then why mention the courts? I keep hoping that if I mention enough examples, then maybe people will start to listen to me and we can eventually get on with the necessary and long overdue job of terminating the corrupt federal union. Checks are accepted only by prior arrangement. Please inquire.
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Stay at Home
Sam Aurelius Milam III A recent news report1 noted that 32 million Americans went to sleep at the wheel during the year prior to the cited survey2. The report further noted that, each year, 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths3 are associated with drivers who go to sleep while driving. The numbers appear to refute the widely held belief that going to sleep while driving is a big problem. Only .313% of admitted sleeping driver incidents even resulted in crashes. A minuscule .00469% of such incidents resulted in deaths. Even if the reporter intended to report fifteen thousand deaths, and said fifteen hundred deaths by mistake, then the percentage is still small, only .0469% . It appears that drivers who fall asleep while driving don't present us with a very large risk. They don't seem to be any more dangerous than a lot of other risks that we all routinely accept. They certainly don't justify granting additional draconian powers to the already intolerable traffic gestapo. Nevertheless, Carole McDonnell, of New Jersey, has decided that liberty is less important than her bereavement over the death of her daughter, who was killed six years ago by a driver who went to sleep while driving. Consequently, she has successfully lobbied in New Jersey for yet another piece of draconian legislation, and is advocating similar legislation in other states. The legislation would define deaths caused by sleeping drivers as vehicular homicide. If the accused driver had been without sleep for 24 hours or longer, then he would receive a sentence of ten years in prison where, presumably, he could catch up on his sleep. The legislation is draconian because of the measures that would be needed to enforce it. What kind of surveillance will be required to determine how long somebody has been awake? Will they require all drivers to keep a sleep log, or allow sleep monitors in their bedrooms as a condition of getting a driver's license? Will they invent a sleepalyzer test, and require drivers to take it? At the very least, it will give the gestapo another excuse to require drivers to provide information that will be used against them. With a complete disregard for liberty, Carole McDonnell doesn't care. She said she'll be happy if the fear of punishment scares people into compliance. Anybody who dares oppose such a crazed reformer, on such a Holy Crusade, is demonized as being in favor of the deaths of daughters, or whatever. The governor of New Jersey is expected to sign the bill. Liberty is more important than safety. Our ancestors didn't come here to be safe. They came here to be free. If they had valued safety over liberty, then they wouldn't have made those long and dangerous journeys into the unknown. They'd have stayed at home. That's my advice to the wimps who value safety over liberty. It's a dangerous world out there. The highways are a part of that world and a part of the danger. People who are not willing to accept the risks ought to stay at home. Constructive Alternative
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Stray Thoughts
Sam Aurelius Milam III Safety Device Cars are too complicated. For one thing, they should stop putting all that safety crap in them. It makes the cars more expensive and harder to repair, and there are too many people in the world anyway. The only safety device that a car needs is the driver. Pornography I can't think of any reason at all, beyond the horrified and hypocritical reprimands of shocked adults, why pornography should be harmful to children. Ignorance is harmful to children. Misinformation is harmful to children. Hypocrisy is harmful to children. Pornography isn't likely to harm them. On the contrary, it might even educate them. Reading I've heard some people, usually Christian evangelists, condemn the Harry Potter stories and bemoan the children who read them. I expect that those are the very same people who complain that children spend too much time with TV and video games, and don't read enough books. It figures. When I was a child, one of my father's friends criticized my non-stop reading of comic books. He said it would ruin my mind. My father said that he didn't give a damn what I read, just so long as I was reading. Later, when my mother caught me reading 1984, by George Orwell, she just happened (as bad luck would have it) to take the book out of my hands to see what I was reading, just at the picnic scene with Winston and Julia. She shook her head but the important thing is that she handed the book back to me. So what if Harry Potter is about Wizards? Is that worse than the stuff that's on the TV or in the video games? At least the kids are reading books. Shut up and leave them alone! Who knows what they might be reading next? Maybe even this newsletter. Watching Television When the oldest of my two daughters was a little girl, I tended let her watch whatever she wanted to watch on the television. I just made sure that I was around to answer questions. Her tastes quickly became more selective than mine. After that, I didn't need to worry too much about what she watched. By the time she was a teenager, I discovered that some of the best movies that I watched were the ones that she selected. Don't panic. What they watch won't ruin them, so long as you're there to answer their questions. It Isn't Free Medical services must be produced by someone other than the person consuming them. Therefore, medical care isn't a right. It's a product. If we want medical services to remain available, then we'd better be willing to pay for them, and not expect to get them for free. Dead Air Time I'm sure tired of weather forecasts that seem like a mini course in meteorology. I don't care about high pressure zones or jet streams. I just want to know if it's going to rain. If they'd eliminate the unnecessary crap and just give the forecast, then they'd have the time for one or two more news items. Holy Cow What do you call a Moslem cleric who owns a dairy? A milk sheik. A White Man's Notes
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The
Housing Situation
Sam Aurelius Milam III The woman who owns this farm has "asked" me to complete an application for an apartment in a government-subsidized housing project. Since I lack a social security number, a driver's license, an employer, any references, or any accounts, and since I denied any citizenship whatsoever and signed the application "under duress", it isn't likely that I will be accepted in the housing project. However, unless my supporters want to see me faced with other such compromises of my integrity, it's time for them to start giving me some actual support. Letters (and Telephone Call) to the Editor
Cheerio. Karl; Windsor, Connecticut
Thanks for the stuff, and especially for the prepaid telephone card. editor
I received a telephone call from Alan, of San Jose California. He commented that this newsletter is worth continuing. He also offered to let me live in a camper in his garage. I appreciate his encouragement and his generous offer. However, I need a lot more space than a camper. I'll need at least 700 square feet or I'll have to abandon most of what I own. Not only would I like to avoid that, the woman who owns this farm doesn't want all that junk left here. editor
This is in response to the letter from Sanazay Bob last month, and to my editorial response to it. editor
You must remember that this nation was founded by Christians, which is why the Christian ethic has been imposed by statute law since the inception of this nation. The church still interferes with the state by continuing to impose their religious, moral, and ethical beliefs upon those outside their faith by instigating legislation for statute law despite the Supreme Court rulings about the separation of church and state. This would not be possible if there truly were a separation of church and state. After more than eighty years, legislators still have not acknowledged the fact that prohibition does not work. All the prohibition laws do is make breaking the law profitable. Perhaps profit is the reason prohibition has never been repealed. Sir James the Bold
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Buck Hunter Shoots Off His Mouth Dear Buck What do you think of the music of Debussy? Music Lover
Acknowledgments
editor
Frontiersman Cancellations If you don't want to keep receiving this newsletter, print REFUSED, RETURN TO SENDER above your name and address, cross out your name and address, and return the newsletter. When I receive it, I'll terminate your subscription. You may also cancel by letter, e-mail, carrier pigeon, or any other method that gets the message to me. Back Issues Back issues or extra copies of this newsletter are available upon request. Reprint Policy Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. Please note that I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other sources. For that permission, you must go to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material. Submissions I solicit letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words, but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. I give credit for all items printed unless the author specifies otherwise. Payment This newsletter isnt for sale. If you care to make a voluntary contribution, you may do so. The continued existence of the newsletter will depend, in part, on such contributions. I prefer cash, U.S. postage stamps, prepaid telephone cards, and so forth. Checks are accepted only by prior arrangement. Please inquire. I dont accept anything that requires me to provide ID or a signature to receive it. In case anybody is curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. Im sure you get the idea. Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor
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